Tree path 7 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Scotch Game › Scotch Game › Scotch Gambit › London Defense
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game C20
- King's Knight Opening C40
- Normal Variation C44
- Scotch Game C44
- Scotch Game C44
- Scotch Gambit C44
- London Defense C44 you are here
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, London Defense
Overview
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, London Defense belongs to the gambit family of chess openings (ECO C44, Open Games). It trades material for attacking chances — a classic trade-off that has fascinated players from the Romantic era to modern correspondence chess.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
It is reached after 8 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bb4+.
The line refines Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, which traces back to the root opening King's Pawn Game.
The line splits into 2 documented sub-systems: Scotch Game: Cochrane Variation, Scotch Game: Hanneken Variation.
Explore the position on the interactive board, study its real-world results from Lichess, and challenge the engine when you are ready.
- ECO code
- C44
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 8
- Parent
- Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit
- Direct variations
- 2
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
866,032 games · White 54.3% / Draw 3.6% / Black 42.1%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| c3 | 793,536 | |
| Bd2 | 63,269 | |
| Nbd2 | 7,345 | |
| Kf1 | 1,541 | |
| Nc3 | 142 | |
| Ke2 | 75 | |
| Qd2 | 62 | |
| Nfd2 | 62 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:52:07
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